The Chatsubo, or simply The Chat, is the bar made famous by William Gibson in his 1984 cyber-punk masterpiece NEUROMANCER. The Chat is where the cyberjocks, razorgirls and joeboys came to gather information and kick back. Please feel free to do the same here.
by JoAnn Roberts - CyberQueen
"Americans tend to put too high a price on unanimity . . . as if there were something dangerous and illegitimate about honest differences of opinion honestly expressed by honest men." -- J. William Fulbright
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) continues to be of interest to our community. In the September issue of the HRC Quarterly, transactivist and FtM attorney Shannon Minter plays apologist for HRC with an article titled "How Transgender Issues Have Become a Part of HRC's Work." The article details how HRC has helped bring transgender awareness to Hate Crimes legislation in Congress. As a community, we should be very grateful for that, but it is a small favor when compared with the effect of being left out of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). Far more transgender people lose their jobs to ignorance and discrimination than lose their lives to hate crimes.
HRC has gone commercial. Seems they've opened a store and "education center" in Provincetown, Mass. I wonder if they have any transgender educational materials? Hey, here's an idea. If you're going to be in P'town for Fantasia Fair this year, why not take some transgender educational material and drop it off at the HRC store. Better yet, just stand outside and hand it out as people walk into the store. Yeah, that's the ticket!
The CBS network and the television show Nash Bridges deserve a pat on the back. In early August, an episode of the San Francisco-based cop show featured an undercover operation at a transgendered beauty contest as a secondary plot line. Two male police officers go undercover as drag contestants to catch a female serial killer. Seems this black widow poses as a transwoman to lure men who like their women with a little something extra, and then she kills them. RuPaul appeared as the contest coordinator and emcee. This is the second time this show has featured RuPaul as a transgendered character. Both times the writers seem to get it right and treat the subject with respect. In fact, one of the detectives in the series likes crossdressing and had volunteered for the assignment. Apparently his superiors don't see this as a problem. But then, the locale is San Francisco. If not there, where? I wonder if GenderPAC will write a letter of commendation to CBS? Nah, there's no PR value in that.
In early August, three transgendered attorneys presented a workshop at the annual convention of the American Bar Association (ABA), in Toronto, Canada. The workshop was titled, "Transgender 101: A Primer for the Practitioner with a Transgender Client." Presenting the workshop were Phyllis Frye, Sharon Stuart, and Melinda Whiteway. It's this kind of outreach work with the basically straight world that we need more of. Congratulations and our thanks should go to these three courageous people.
The state of Minnesota and the city of Minneapolis lead the way again. There is hope yet. The Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) of the Twin Cities (Minneapolis and St. Paul) witnessed an incredible event. Twenty queer-haters and the Rev. Phelps from the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka Kansas showed up to picket the MCC church with signs stating "God Hates Fags." Phelps underestimated his position as 1000 supporters of the MCC church showed up for a counter rally which included the state's Attorney General, Skip Humphrey, three gubernatorial candidates, state senators, and other government officials. An ecumenical group of representative from religious groups, Civil Rights organizations, GLBT organizations, heterosexual and homosexual groups, numbering over 100 all joined together in a spirit of unity. The bozos got the message and left town.
But, it could be worse. Two MtF transsexuals lost a long battle recently in the European Court of Human Rights. The court ruled that the British government had not breached the rights of Kristina Sheffield and Rachel Horsham, both 52, by denying them new birth certificates showing that they were female. The court also upheld, by 18 to 2, the Government's right to prevent Sheffield and Horsham from marrying men. But the judges reprimanded the British government for not reviewing its laws concerning transsexuals "...given the increased social acceptance of transsexualism."
According to sources who know such things, Nancy Nangeroni is phasing out as the Executive Director of the International Foundation for Gender Education, while the board of directors is actively looking for a replacement. The timing has Nancy phasing out around October 1st, just 11 months after she took the job replacing Alison Laing who served for two years and replaced Merissa Sherrill Lynn after a 10 year stint. Nangeroni will continue to handle the IFGE web site. This is not going to be an easy position to fill because of its high visibility and IFGE's long standing financial problems. If you're interested in the job, contact Alison Laing at IFGE or by email at a.l.@lng.com.
Onward to fashion news... I found a really great site that is a lot of fun. It has fashion questions from ten, twenty and thirty years ago. Go take a look at Miss Abigail's Timewarp.
If you've seen one lingerie site on the Internet, you've seen them all, right? I mean they get so repetitive with all the same items. Well, I found a site that offers some fresh new items as well as a snazzy look. Check out Henry & June. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
If you've been waiting for this month to sign up for my Paradise In The Poconos weekend... Surprise! You waited too long! As I write this in August, we've got almost 140 people registered and by the time you read this we'll probably be sold out. But it won't hurt to call and check for last minute cancellations. Call 610-640-9449.
First it was VPL (visible panty line) which is a no-no. Now we have VBS which is okay. One of the latest fads is Visible Bra Straps where your bra straps show from under your top. (Hey, just watch Buffy on the WB network.) They're even making dresses and tank tops with lingerie straps rather than finished fabric. These are cased elastic straps with adjustable sliders and even slip hooks. If you don't wear a bra, these tops let you fit right in with the trend, if you do wear a bra, you're twice as trendy with twice as many straps.
The buzz on shoes from some of the best designers is that stilettoes are still in. There's not a clunky platform in sight at Fortuna Valentino's 16,000-square-foot shoes store on West Broadway, NYC. The shoes are inspired by a book Valentino received on chairs. "Chairs," she says, "are made from contrasting materials," and that's what she's doing with her shoes. For example, for Fall, she's pairing beechwood stiletto heels with lizard, snake and crocodile. Valentino's shoes sell for $300 to $1600.
If that's too rich for you, step down a bit to Emanuel Ungaro's new shoe collection that is decidedly sexy and feminine. Ungaro has animal prints, ponyskin, strappy lace and beaded, all high heeled and inspired by his Fall ready-to-wear collections at Needless Markup, Saks and Ungaro boutiques. His shoes sell for $225 to $265 a pair.
Whether flat or high, sabrina or stacked, the color of shoes for the Fall is grey (or gray, if you like). Grey is the color of the moment and shoes are popping up everywhere in shades like grey flannel, grey tweed, and grey leather. (I have a weakness for grey leather.) The thinking is that grey is softer than black but warmer than white, plus it heightens the impact of any color paired with it.
Cashing in on the current craze of Mehndi, semi-permanent body painting with henna, Nicole Miller has created henna-printed stockings for those who like the look but in short, day-long, doses. Mehndi paintings can last from 10 days to a month and have been seen on such well-known bodies as Madonna, Liv Tyler, Demi Moore, Naomi Campbell, and Gwen Stefani (lead singer of No Doubt). Ms. Miller's stockings sell for about $12 a pair.
A quick note. I mentioned a corset kit last issue and someone who is not online asked me for a street address. I am sorry to say that I've not been able to get a street address and I've had no response from the email address I posted.
I am grateful to Melissa Ann Tate in Phoenix for this next bit of information. I have been recommending Max Factor Active Protection makeup for sometime now. Melissa was not able to get that product locally and called the manufacturer, Proctor and Gamble. They told her that Max Factor no longer makes or sells Active Protection foundation. They recommend switching to their Lasting Performance foundation, even though it does not have a silicone base. If you call the consumer affairs division of P&G for Max Factor and their other cosmetics products at 410-785-3330 between 8 am and 5 pm EDT, they will tell you which shade of Lasting Performance matches the last shade you had of Active Performance. They also said that if they receive enough calls and/or letters, they may reconsider putting Active Performance back on the market and they will send you a coupon good wherever Max Factor is sold for a free, full size blush, powder, concealer, or foundation. Sounds like a deal to me. And, by the way, if you can't find the Max Factor, try Maybelline True Illusion or Revlon ColorStay.
The buzz on eyeliner is the decline of the eye pencil. Pencils have been disappearing from professional makeup artist's kits for some time, but the trend has now reached the average woman. The replacement is an eyeliner brush and eyeshadow. Pencils have oil in them so they eventually smear. Shadows stay put almost no matter what, and you don't get the gap between lashes and lid like you do with a pencil. Pencils are not likely to disappear completely since a pencil is still the best way to line the inner lid and many women will never give up using pencils. If you'd like to try brush lining look for Bobbi Brown's eye liner brush or Stila's version.
So, those are my opinions, but, hey, what do I know? Comments? Write care of this publication or email them to CyberQueen@cdspub.com.
© 1998 by JoAnn Roberts
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